


Courage to Fly

by lemonlush



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:29:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26690680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonlush/pseuds/lemonlush
Summary: Before she said yes...before they said I do...They had to learn how to make it work. A collection of Dog Tags side stories from when he left, to when she said yes, and beyond.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 28
Kudos: 52





	Courage to Fly

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.

* * *

Summary: Before she said yes...before they said I do...They had to learn how to make it work. A collection of Dog Tags side stories from when he left, to when she said yes, and beyond.

Chapter 1

Kagome tossed her laptop into her tote and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. It was her first day back at school, and she was grateful for the distraction. The last week had kept her busy. She had moved into a new apartment building with her friend Ayumi with the help of her parents and younger brother, Souta.

Her father still wasn't thrilled about Inuyasha, and even less so now that he wasn't going anywhere. Other than to wherever the Navy had just sent him, that is...but that was what she was still trying to desperately get her mind off of.

She sighed, shifting her thoughts to her mother when she had told her the news. She had been nervous but happy for her.

Far more supportive than her father was.

Her mother felt like she had already warned her against the difficulties, and that was all she could do. After all...this was young love, and you couldn't fight that. She also thought that he was quite handsome once she saw his photo. Apparently, he reminded her of a love child between Anderson Cooper and Chris Evans...which had left her blushing and her father seething that much more.

Her grandparents had come to her aid once again, however...and after a long, hard conversation with his parents, her father was now "on board" with her decision.

That was as supportive as he was going to be, and frankly...she'd take what she could get.

She shouldered her tote bag and paused at her desk, picking up the stuffed toy she won at the boardwalk with Inuyasha's help. She smiled softly at it, hugging it to her chest before putting it back down.

She wanted to talk to him so much it hurt. She wanted to hear his voice and tell him about the undergrad who liked to get to class on a unicycle and wear a top hat. She wanted to tell him that it had taken her an hour to build her ikea desk because she couldn't use the drill right.

Most of all...she wanted his support. She wanted to hear him wishing her a good first day and reminding her of how amazing she was.

' _You've got this, Darlin'. You'll be great. You're strong and smart as hell. Go kick some ass. I adore you, Darlin'.'_

She shook her head, willing herself not to cry again as she grabbed her keys off of the key hook by the door. She was making an effort now that she knew how much it bothered him. If she got used to it now, then maybe it would be second nature when she saw him next.

She locked up and left, waving to the woman at the front desk of her building as she began the quick fifteen minute walk to her first class of the day in their business school. _Business Fundamentals for Non-Business Professionals._ She was sure it was as fun as it sounded.

She found her classroom and walked to the front of the lecture hall, swinging her bag onto the long table and searching through it to find her laptop.

"This seat taken?"

She looked up at the man next to her and told him it wasn't.

"Great," he smiled, sitting down next to her. He reminded her of a "frat dad".

There were two kinds of frat guys: the douches who wore their baseball hats backwards and t-shirts with colorful shorts...and then there were the dads.

The ones who wore button downs and colorful pants and sperrys. The ones who looked preppy and like they belonged in New England or Palm Beach.

He was a dad, for sure.

He wore kelly green pants and a Vinyard Vines button down shirt to match. He had sandy blond hair and sparkling green eyes, and a slight beer belly was developing. If she hadn't been with Inuyasha, she would have thought he was actually kind of cute. But she was, and she had absolutely no interest in this man.

"I don't think we've met before. I'm Will," he greeted, reaching out a hand to shake hers.

"Kagome," she replied, taking his hand. "No - we haven't."

"Well...it's very nice to meet you, Kagome. That's a pretty name. Not very common, too."

"Thanks," she smiled, reaching back into her tote as she felt a shiver run up her spine. She hated being in large buildings like this in the summer. They over air conditioned them, and she often found herself freezing to death in them. She pulled out Inuyasha's sweatshirt and shrugged into it, zipping it up.

"That's a nice sweatshirt," he complimented.

"Thanks...it was my boyfriend's," she replied, trying to make it clear to him that she wasn't interested. "He gave it to me before he was sent underway a few weeks ago. He's in the Navy."

That maaaaay have been overkill...but it got the message across loud and clear: _we can talk, but don't expect shit from me...and if you try something, he will kick your ass. And he can. Don't test him._

She sat down and opened her laptop, pulling up Google Chrome and opening Facebook.

' _I miss you'_ she typed into a chat, sending it to Inuyasha. He had a long log of at least a hundred messages he hadn't read in their chat now. She knew he wouldn't be able to for a while. Who knew when the next time he would get signal was, or when he could get internet…

Still...sending these little messages made her feel better. It was like he wasn't in some undisclosed location on the other side of the planet, risking his life to do Lord only knows what.

"Well...your boyfriend is a lucky man," Will continued. "To have you as his girlfriend, I mean. We all appreciate his sacrifice and his service."

"Thanks," she smiled as their teacher entered and began fiddling with the projector.

"Morning, morning...sorry I'm late, everyone... _don't_ get used to it! That's not how I like to run my class. Who here has read the syllabus as requested? No one? Good. Let's jump right in and start by covering that. I promise you, 90% of the questions you are going to have...you can find the answers to them in this."

Kagome pulled up the syllabus she had skimmed the night before onto her computer screen, and she smiled when she caught a glance at her desktop background. It was of the two of them kissing after they'd had sex when her cast was removed.

She sighed and opened Messager again.

' _No one read the syllabus for class. So now we're going over it IN class. I swear, if this is what we do the whole time, I'm going to scream. It's like...WHY did I even bother coming if this is what we're going to talk about?! I could have stayed at home in bed and slept._

_I wish you were here. You could join me and hold me while we watched Netflix.'_

She hit the enter button, and a text flew across her screen from the front desk of her apartment building. She clicked on the message and opened it.

' _Your perishable delivery has arrived. Please pick it up from the front desk as soon as possible.'_

Hmmm...must have been Ayumi's. Good thing she didn't have a class and should be at home right now. She sent her a text to make sure she knew that her package had arrived and advised her to pick it up as soon as possible.

' _It's probably one of those weekly dinner subscription things,'_ she wrote to Inuyasha. _'She's really into that stuff. It's weird that I would get the text, though._

_I probably should have paid more attention to the guy giving us a tour of the building when we were thinking about moving in, but I was too excited._

_We're finally unpacked, though...so I can send you those photos I was promising before. After class. Obviously.'_

"So," Will whispered, drawing her attention to him. "What are you in for?"

"In for?"

"Yeah. What brings you to this class?"

"Oh! You mean what's my degree?"

"Yeah."

"Library Science."

"Really?" He replied, raising his brows. "I wouldn't have pegged you as a librarian."

"What would you have pegged me as?"

"Lion tamer at the circus. For sure."

She smiled at that.

"Yeah? Well, what about you?"

"Architecture."

"Really?"

"It's an elective. I figured if I'm ever interested in working for myself, it couldn't hurt to have a background in business."

"It certainly couldn't," she agreed.

' _Got it,'_ Ayumi texted her, pulling her back to her computer.

' _Great - thank you!'_

"...now I know I say you should use the seventh edition of this book, but if you can only find the fifth or the sixth, that will work just as well. Page numbers will be a little different, but you can figure it out and save yourselves fifty bucks," her professor continued, and she rolled her eyes.

She really didn't need to be in class for this. She'd probably just find the book she needed through the library system, spend an hour or so scanning everything she'd need for the semester, and then wash her hands of it.

It was boring...but it was free, and that wasn't nothing.

"Did you get your book yet?" Will asked, and she shook her head and told him her plan. "Pretty smart!"

"Thanks," she smiled before turning her attention back to their professor. He was talking about a website they were going to sign up for to run a virtual business in groups. It would throw out scenarios to them, and much like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, they would have to make decisions accordingly. At the end of the semester, they would have to give a presentation explaining their choices and their results and what they would have done differently.

Fun.

"Want to be partners?" Will asked.

Why the hell not, right?

* * *

Kagome opened the door to her apartment and sighed. She was not looking forward to that project, but it could have been worse - at least it was a project and a presentation. Tests were so cut and dry...and this gave her a better chance of acing the final.

She hung her keys back up on the key hook and took a photo, sending it to Inuyasha.

' _Look! I'm using the key hook. Proud of me?'_

She locked her phone and rolled her head and shoulders.

"Hey!" Ayumi greeted. "How was class?"

"Good. Made a friend. His name is Will - seems pretty cool."

"Ooooooh….Kagome has _another_ boyfriend?" she teased, her eyes dancing in amusement.

"Har har…" she replied, rolling her eyes and moving to the kitchen to grab some water.

She immediately stopped.

"Oh my God...Ayumi, did you get us flowers?" she asked, seeing a beautiful bouquet on the kitchen bar.

"Nope!" she giggled.

"They're beautiful," she breathed, looking at the bouquet. It was filled with bright, warm colored roses in pinks and reds and orange-ish yellows. There were also peruvian lilies in whites and yellows and purples...it was a bright, cheerful arrangement. "How did we get flowers?"

"Why don't you read the card?" she sang, and Kagome raised her brow at her.

"What card?"

"It's taped on the side of the vase."

Kagome tilted her head and spun the vase around, looking for the card. The moment she saw it, she felt her knees buckle a little.

' _The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go._

_I adore you, Darlin'. Have a great first day._

_-Yash'_

"He…"

"Yup."

"I can't…"

"You should."

Kagome pulled a barstool out to sit down. He sent her flowers…

"Kags, are you ok?" Ayumi asked, coming to stand by her.

"No," she whispered, wrapping her hands around the base of the vase. He sent her flowers. He was on the other side of the planet, with almost no reception and the world's shittiest wi-fi...but he had remembered she was starting classes today, and he had sent her flowers.

Her eyes began to burn, and she closed them.

"Ayumi…" she whined, falling forward onto her arms.

"Oh, Kagome…" she cooed sympathetically. "These are happy flowers! Do you think he would want you to cry over them?"

"No," she replied, her voice rough and muffled. "No one has ever sent me flowers before...and then when it happens for the first time, I can't even say thank you. Not really. Because I can't reach him. Because he's God only knows where, doing God only knows what…"

"I know," Ayumi soothed.

"I wish he were here. I miss him so much…"

"I know," she repeated.

"Ayumi…"

"I know," she repeated again. "He wouldn't want you acting like this over them, though. Do you think he sent them to you to make you cry?"

"No," she whispered.

"He just wanted to show you he supports you, and he's cheering you on from the sidelines. Focus on that, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed, smiling weakly.

"Come on. Let's dry your cheeks and take a photo. He's going to want to see you with them. It will make him smile!"

* * *

Kagome was changing into a t-shirt and sleep shorts when her phone pinged with a Messenger sound. It was nearing midnight, and she had stayed up late working on her first class assignment. Coffee was going to be her friend tomorrow since she had to work at nine, but she knew she would manage. She always did.

She flipped her phone over to look at the message and almost dropped it.

"Inuyasha," she breathed, picking it back up.

He had written a simple, _'I miss you too, Babe.'_

She quickly unlocked her phone and started typing to him.

Fuck sleep.

He was more important. She'd pull an all nighter if she had to. She didn't care.

' _I'm sorry I buried you under 1,000 messages,'_ she wrote back.

' _Don't be - makes for some great reading material. Thanks for using the key hook. You're easing my anxiety.'_

' _So you made it all the way to the key hook?'_

' _I made it all the way to the end.'_

' _Oh boy...how long did that take you?'_

' _Doesn't matter. I liked it. Makes me feel like I'm still there with you. Keep doing it?'_

' _Always.'_

' _I really do miss you. I wish I could hold you.'_

' _Touch you,'_ he continued.

' _Kiss you,'_ he finished.

She grinned.

' _Only kiss me?'_

' _Higurashi! Behave yourself. I'm surrounded by men right now.'_

' _I think I rather like that imagery...are they all as good looking as you? Wait...don't tell me. I'm going to pretend they are. You wouldn't happen to be in the shower right now, would you?'_

' _This is me ignoring you now.'_

She giggled.

' _I wish I could hold you and kiss you too. I'm sorry I couldn't kiss you goodbye,'_ she replied, smiling wistfully.

' _I can't want to see you again and kiss you. Maybe in December?'_ she continued.

' _Are you still thinking of coming out my way?'_ he asked. Was that a hint of hopefulness she detected?

' _Yup,'_ she confirmed, opening her laptop and a new tab to search airfares.

' _Just need to confirm with my grandparents that I can stay with them. I'll be there for like...a month.'_

He was silent for a minute, and she wondered what was going through his head. It looked like he was still there. Finally, she saw the three wiggling dots that told her he was typing.

' _You can stay with me if they say no. Or even if they say yes.'_

Her smile widened.

' _Oh really? You think you can handle me there for that long?'_

' _There's nothing to handle, Darlin. Seeing your smiling face everyday would be a joy and a privilege.'_

' _Twist my arm, why don't you…'_

' _You don't have to,'_ he immediately replied.

' _You're right. I don't. But I want to. Can I run some dates and times past you? Might as well book it now.'_

' _I'd love that.'_

They stayed on for as long as it took for her to book a flight before he told her he had to go. She climbed under the now warm covers of her bed and flipped her phone over. That ten minute conversation...she had needed it.

She felt a bit more whole now.

* * *

A/N: Originally posted on AO3 on 9/27, this is the continuation of Dog Tags to fill in all of those gaps. I had mentioned doing this before…And for my anniversary as a FF writer, I decided to finally DO THIS!

Sorry this took so long to get up nicely – FFN was acting bad on my FFN anniversary, so I couldn't until now.

WHOMP WHOMP.

Thanks as always to Saucy for editing this baby!

Until next time!

-LL


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